A land of lakes and forests, Finland is perfect for anyone that wants to be alone and contemplate life. Finns do this all the time. The being alone, maybe not the contemplating life. Mostly, they drink.
Kalsarikännit is a term they have for being at home alone drinking. It means, 'drunk in only underpants'. Alcohol appears heavily in much of Finnish culture and is the centrepiece for most celebrations. Today, it is the midsummer day celebrations and even though the weather is not great, there will be plenty of people out in their boats.
Every year, there is a death toll count for those that drowned. The normal reason is they urinated over the side and fell but were too drunk to pull themselves back into the boat. Literally, drowning in their own piss. Why don't they use vests? Real men don't of course.
The Finnish government has pretended to try and help the situation by raising taxes and centralising liquor sales to a monopolised government store. It has of course has only made the problem worse over the years as restricting supply makes demand higher, but the tax revenues are good.
Perhaps, instead of getting underwear drunk, they spent some time contemplating a little by the lake, they would reach a better solution.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]